A Dowry of Blood (A Dowry of Blood #1)(43)

“Freedom,” I said.

Alexi never got the chance to ask me what I meant, because somewhere distantly in the house, a door opened and slammed shut. I heard the lilt of Magdalena speaking, her words indistinguishable, and then, unmistakably, the baritone of your voice.

I slammed the book shut and shoved it back in its place. Alexi was already scrambling back for the stairs, hauling me behind him with a tight grip on my wrist.

“We’re dead,” he huffed, more to himself than me. “If he finds us down here…”

“He won’t,” I whispered, feigning surety. “Hurry, little Alexi.”

We doused the lamp and hustled up the stairs as quietly as we could, pausing for only a moment at the landing to catch our breath.

Magdalena had detained you in the foyer and was chattering on prettily about something that was just barely holding your interest. You threw your eyes around the room, shrugging off your coat.

“Where are your siblings?” you asked.

“Here we are,” I said, keeping my voice even, my expression pleasant.

I realized how it must have looked, Alexi and I both emerging shamefaced and out of breath, lingering close to one another. Sometimes you were jealous when you had to share us with one another and sometimes you weren’t; it was impossible to predict. But you had taken Alexi finding refuge in my arms particularly badly, your dark mood clouding our household for weeks after you found me in the alcove. Probably because you knew it was you he was seeking refuge from.

“Did you bring me something to eat?” Alexi asked, in a breezy affect that didn’t quite fit the situation. He hadn’t sized you up quickly enough to realize that you had gotten home irritated and that your mood was only worsening.

“I wasn’t able to,” you said, voice clipped as you threw your gloves onto a nearby ottoman.

“What do you mean?”

“I was seen,” you said, your brows drawn tight together in consternation. “I had to abandon the hunt before it was finished.”

“Seen?” Magdalena echoed, crossing her arms over her chest. She raised a disapproving eyebrow at you, and you bristled dangerously.

“Yes, need I repeat myself?”

“The villagers are going to come looking for you, then. They’ll bring guns. Weapons even you can’t outrun.”

You dismissed her fears with a wave of your hand.

“They won’t. They’re too scared.”

Magdalena let out a short, cruel laugh, and I could see the flash of rage beneath. She had been able to hold back her contempt for you and your secrets while distracting you, but now the mask was slipping.

“They’re going to topple your little regime,” she went on. “All because you were spied nibbling on some stable hand in an alley, is that it?”

Your temper snapped. You took a threatening step forward, and I threw myself between your bodies before I had the chance to think it through.

“Don’t touch her,” I hissed, with more force that I would have thought possible just days before. But, like Eve, I had taken a bite of forbidden fruit and been rewarded with all the knowledge I had hitherto been denied. I knew just as much as you, and I knew you were just as mortal as any human man, under the right circumstances. You could kill us, yes. But that meant you could also be killed.

You staggered back as though I had spat at you, confusion flashing across your face. Then your eyes darkened and before I had the chance to run, you seized me by the throat.

I let out a horrible, ugly gasp, and I saw Alexi move in a blur at my side intending to strike you, but Magdalena held him back.

“I’m getting tired of you constantly undermining me,” you said through grit teeth.

I writhed under your punishing grip, tears springing to my eyes. You squeezed so hard I saw stars.

“I won’t tolerate sedition,” you said, bringing your face close to mine. “I made you and I can unmake you. You belong to me, Constanta. Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh. Say it.”

“Blood of your blood,” I wheezed, barely able to form the words.

You tossed me aside and I let out a cry like a kicked dog when I hit the floor.

You had a few choice words for Magdalena and Alexi, but I didn’t hear them. I was crumpled on the ground, massaging my throbbing neck as sobs wracked my body. I was shaking like a leaf in the wind, more terrified of you than I had ever been.

As soon as you had stalked down the halfway, Alexi and Magdalena were at my side, cooing gently and petting my hair.

I brought shaking fingers away from my bruising throat, and Magdalena dropped the lightest of healing kisses on the wounded spot.

“Did you find anything?” she whispered into my hair.

I nodded and swallowed hard. I had found something else too, buried deep underneath habit and fear and years of loyalty to you. Anger, white-hot and blinding. Bright enough to illuminate even the darkest night.

“Yes. I found what I was looking for.”

Magdalena cast a wary glance over to Alexi and then back to me.

“We three are in agreement, then. We will stand against him?”

Alexi squared his shoulders and in that moment he looked every inch a prince, ready to lead his troops into war.

“We don’t have any other choice.”





The villagers arrived before we could formulate our plan. It only took them a few days to gather their courage and assemble a small band of men, armed with axes and guns. They crested over the hills shortly after nightfall, marching with lanterns held high and murder in their eyes.